The purpose of this article is to investigate the causes of labor productivity decline in bituminous deep mines during the 1970s. Prior to 1970, coal mining was a leading industry in productivity growth: average deep mine labor productivity increased from 5.8 tons per miner per shift in 1950 to 15.6 tons per miner per shift in 1969. Since 1969, average labor productivity has fallen every year to a 1977 level of 8.7 tons per miner per shift.
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